Ukraine and Croatia have agreed on exporting Ukrainian grain, which became more challenging after Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, during the visit of Gordan Grlić-Radman, Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Kyiv.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press service, the heads of both foreign ministries had talks regarding military assistance, grain export, and the implementation of the Ukrainian "peace formula."

"We have agreed on using Croatian ports on the Danube and the Adriatic Sea for transporting Ukrainian grain. We will now work on establishing the most efficient routes to these ports and make the most of this opportunity," said Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, during a briefing on Monday.

"Every contribution to unlocking exports, every open door, is a real and effective contribution to global food security. Thank you, Croatia, for your constructive assistance," added the Ukrainian Minister.

The head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also thanked the Croatian government and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković personally for supporting Ukraine on its path to the EU and NATO. He also welcomed the recent decision of the Croatian parliament to recognise the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as a genocide against the Ukrainian people.

Previously, issues with Ukrainian grain export through ports were also discussed with Greece and Bulgaria.

On 17 July, Russia announced the suspension of the grain agreement and threatened "risks" to parties that decided to continue the initiative without the participation of the Russian Federation. In addition, Moscow began large-scale attacks on the port infrastructure of Odesa and the Danube ports.

The White House had previously stated that grain from Ukraine would likely be exported by land, adding that "we have done this before, including before the grain deal."